Storytime: How to Create a Compelling Brand Story

Why do I need a compelling brand story?

Globalization can be a bit of a polarizing-word these days; it’s a term that brings with it a range of feelings that are dependent on your circumstances and perspective. For many people, especially those running commercial businesses, globalization has become synonymous with increased competition in a wide range of industries across the globe. As a result, the vast majority of people running a company today will tell you that the market in which they’re operating feels crowded.

Now, if you’ve ever had any experience trying to sell to the public, especially in a crowded environment, you’ll know just how difficult it can be to hold someone’s attention under those circumstances. It’s even harder to get people to listen to what you are selling when you’re in a noisy environment full of competition; with so many options available it can be hard enough to get your voice heard, let alone convince someone that your product is superior to that of your competitor!

Furthermore, the growth of online retail has, in many ways, only made things more difficult for the vast majority of business owners. Not only do businesses now have to cut through the noise of their online global competitors, but giant corporations such as Amazon and eBay also have in many ways changed the long-established rules of retail. Services that could once be used to distinguish a company to its customers, such as next-day delivery and 24/7 customer assistance, are now the new and expected bassline of online retail. As a result, many customers tend to fall back on the classic differentiator – price.

As a result, you’re probably asking yourself whether or not it’s even possible to compete at all in your industry’s modern marketplace; if you can’t compete on price, the range of provided services or your overall customer service experience, how can you compete at all?  Well, that’s easy to answer – your business needs a compelling brand story! A compelling brand story will help your business cut through the noise and ruckus of your competitors, helping your company to differentiate itself within your industry successfully.

So, if you’re looking for some unique tips on how to help create a compelling story around your businesses’ brand, read on:

Does your business have an origin story worthy of a Marvel comic?

Whether or not you’re a superhero fan, when it comes to literary heroes, we all love a protagonist with a great origin story; thankfully, the same is also often true of businesses and their lowly beginnings. If your brand’s inception was intriguing, don’t be shy – share it with your potential customers!

By building out the birth story of your business, carefully explaining the when’s, why’s and how’s of how your company came to be, you’ll be increasing the chances that a customer may become personally invested in your businesses’ story and your brand’s identity – they’ll want to see what happens next! Additionally, sharing your company’s mission, or objective, is another sure-fire way of creating a strong narrative arc for your business that helps to create a compelling brand story with which people can engage.

With that being said, be careful not to gloss over your businesses’ struggles, people aren’t so naïve as to believe your successful business began without a hitch, and pretending otherwise may rub your audience up the wrong way. Starting a business is undeniably tricky, so share some of those challenges with your customers – people have a tendency to bond over a sense of shared hardship. Therefore, by highlighting the difficulties your business has faced in its past, your brand will appear more honest, approachable, and trustworthy.

Once you’ve got your audience’s attention – make sure you keep it

When it comes to your brand’s story, the most fundamental factor should be that it appeals to your businesses’ target demographic. Thankfully you’re off to a good start because no-one’s going to know your businesses’ target demographic better than you!

Ideally, you need to identify what motivates your audience? What do they like about your industry or product, and what do they dislike? Once you’ve identified factors such as this, you’ll be in a better position to write a compelling brand story that appeals directly to the demographic your intending on targeting.

You’ll also want to ensure that you are monitoring engagement with your brand’s story in some way! In doing so, you’ll be able to modify the tone and language you use in efforts to greater reflect the narrative of your brand’s story. For example, if some social media posts receive more engagement than others, try and identify why that may be; don’t be afraid to experiment with how you deliver your brand’s story, as you may find more effective ways in which to bolster the narrative of your business.

Nobody likes a poser

With that being said, however, it’s essential to be authentic – nobody likes a poser! It’s all well and good wanting to establish a compelling brand story to help distinguish your business in a competitive industry; however, make sure that it is your story. There’s no use in fostering an engaging brand story for your company, only for it to be at complete odds with both what your business is and what it does.

Moreover, it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of customers are exposed to an ungodly amount of advertising and are, as a result, adept at spotting when a brand is ‘playing’ a part rather than being authentic. Remember, the whole purpose of establishing a compelling brand story is to build a level of trust between your business and its potential customers; if a consumer feels as though you are inauthentic, and that you are attempting to violate their trust, the relationship you are trying to foster will be undermined considerably.

Show people your brand, don’t tell them about it

It might be too distant a date to cast your mind back to, but when you were studying at school, did you ever participate in an activity called show and tell? If you did, do you ever really remember anyone spending their time telling the class about something, rather than showing it to them? Exactly! People would rather be shown something and left to come to their own conclusions, rather than lectured about it in an abstract and removed way.

The same can be said of your business. People have no interest in reading a vague and dispassionate list of your company’s supposed ‘fantastic’ qualities, and businesses tend to do this all the time – they instead want to be shown those qualities in practice. For example, if your business is a specialist in affordable lifestyle products, show your audience the positive impact those products are having on the lives of their owners; with the enormous power and popularity of social media, it’s never been easier to show your customers your brand’s story.

Moreover, as people would instead be shown your brand’s story rather than told about it, you may even wish to consider commissioning a captivating video to explain your company’s origins to your audience. Additionally, with the enormous popularity of video hosting websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, if you’re not utilizing mediums such as film in which to sell your brand’s story, you could potentially be missing out on a vast audience.

With that being said, although video is a brilliant choice in which to convey your brand’s story and character, if your video is of poor quality, it’s unlikely to either gain any traction or stand out at all.

Here at Kashu, we’re an experienced and talented team of creatives that specialize in creating animated Explainer Videos that sell; we’d recommend working with a similarly experienced and talented creative studio if you do decide that an animated explainer video can help your business create a compelling brand story.

Explainer Videos by Kashu

In today’s high-speed, crowded and competitive market place, making sure that your company has a compelling brand story can be a pivotal factor in whether or not you see success. Where the brand’s story was once considered a trivial and excessive façade, it is today an essential differentiator that can help your company stand out from its competitors. If your business doesn’t have a compelling brand story, many customers will fall back on the classic differentiator, price – and a race to the bottom against Amazon and eBay most definitely isn’t the path to success. A compelling brand story, on the other hand, allows your business to compete in different ways.

Here at Kashu, we understand these difficulties and know just how hard it can be to keep up in this fast-moving, inter-connected, and highly competitive global economy. We specialize in producing the highest-quality in bespoke Explainer Videos for our clients, and have created over 10,000 animated Explainer Videos and Corporate Animations for international brands such as Office 365, Dunkin’ Donuts and KFC – trust us, we know what makes a compelling brand story.

So, if you’re looking for an engaging and bespoke Explainer Video to support your brand’s story, simply fill in our contact form with as much detail as you can about your requirements. We’ll be in contact as quickly as possible with an affordable quote and the answers to any questions you may have had!